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Melville, NY - Olympus America Inc., Consumer Products Group, a leading consumer electronics manufacturer, announced the DW-90, a digital voice recorder with PC connection for under $100. Made for students, journalists, and business users, the DW-90 is a compact and uniquely styled digital recorder with 90 minutes of recording time. It connects to the PC through a high-speed USB interface to easily transfer WAV files to the PC.

The built-in uni-directional/telescoping microphone is perfect for journalists recording interviews or for students at lectures, since it allows the user to point the mike directly towards the voice for a clearer recording without background noise. The user can then easily email the lecture or interview as a WAV file attachment to others or listen and save the recording on a PC.

The DW-90 provides three folders for voice file management, capable of storing up to 100 messages per folder. Three recording modes: High Quality, Standard Play, and Long Play allow a choice in the quality and length of recording. An LCD display is provided to check remaining recording time, the date & time, voice activation mode, play mode (HQ/SP/LP), and battery status. A Microphone Sensitivity Selector and voice activation for hands-free are also included.

"The DW-90 is a great addition to the Olympus product line," said Keith Swiderski, Product Manager, Olympus America, Consumer Products Group. "The DW-90 is perfect for students who need to record a class lecture, or business people who need to record information and download it to a PC in a handy audio format. It is also ideal for people who to add audio to their web site. It's an ideal tool for most consumers."

The DW-90 is the latest in a long line of Olympus innovative award-winning digital voice recorders, such as the DS-320, a digital recorder with over five hours of recording time bundled with IBM's® ViaVoiceTM speech recognition software. The DS-150, released in April of 1999, was well received for its ease of use and affordable price. It was chosen as a preferred mobile solution for IBM® ViaVoiceTM, and was also bundled as part of L&H® Voice Express Mobile ProfessionalTM. The D1000, released in June of 1998, won numerous industry awards for its enhancement of the mobile office, including the coveted PC Computing MVP Award, November 1998; Popular Mechanics, Editor's Choice Award, January 1999; and Popular Science, "Best of What's New," November 11, 1997.

The DW-90 will be available on August 1, 2001 for a Suggested Retail Price of $129, Street Price $99. It comes with a microphone stand, USB cable, hand strap and "Digital Wave Player" software.